The Sokoto government has instructed all workers to submit their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) before they will be paid their April and other salaries.

This is part of efforts to sanitise the state civil service and permanently tackle the menace of ghost workers, according to a government statement in Sokoto on Sunday.

The statement was signed by Malam Imam Imam, the spokesman of Gov. Aminu Tambuwal.

The government said in the statement that “submission of the BVN forms part of the ongoing verification of staff and the updating of records of all employees in the state civil service.”

It said the directive also affected workers at the local government level.

The statement said the state Head of Service had been instructed to ensure prompt compliance.

This, it announced, was to enable all workers update their records.

The statement said the ongoing verification exercise at the local government level had led to saving of substantial amount of money.

“The effort will continue until the payroll is completely sanitised.” (NAN)

•Photo shows Gov. Tambuwal.